CPJ alarmed by wave of anti-press attacks in Honduras

New York, April 6,
2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on law enforcement
in Honduras to stop attacking or prohibiting journalistsfromcovering social unrest
in the country. The attacks have come amid a national teachers' strike that has
turned violent.

Teachers, farmers, and anti-government activists demanding
education reforms, and an increase in wages in the capital, Tegucigalpa, have clashed with police, The
Associated Press said.
The confrontations, which left at least one teacher dead and dozens of
protesters injured, have spread to other parts of the country, local press
reports said. Members of the anti-government group known as the National Front
of Popular Resistance, formed after the coup that ousted former President
Manuel Zelaya in June 2009, demanded the return of the exiled leader.

"We are alarmed by the attacks on Honduran journalists and
the number of injuries," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator
for the Americas. "The authorities must ensure that journalists can cover these
protests and they should conduct a thorough investigation into abuses by local
law enforcement and bring those responsible to justice."

At least seven journalists have faced harassment, detention,
and violent attacks in the past two weeks while reporting unrest throughout Honduras, CPJ research found.

On March 22, national police agents hurled a tear gas
canister at the vehicle of Tegucigalpa-based Radio Globo Director David Romero
and Canal 36 TV reporter Lidieth Díaz as they were interviewing protesters,
according to a press release issued
by the Organization of American States' special rapporteur for freedom of
expression.

On March 30, reporter David Corea Arteaga was grazed on the
jaw by a bullet when national police attacked a group of journalists who were
covering a similar protest in Colón province, according to the local freedom of
expression organization Comité por la Libre Expresión (C-Libre). Corea is a
journalist with the cable news service Centro de Noticias de Colón.

Police detained Pedro López, a correspondent for Radio
Progreso, while he was covering a protest in Potrerillos in northern Cortés
province on March 30, press reports said. López, who was reporting live with
his cellphone, was held for four hours at the local police station. According
to the online magazine Revistazo, López was released when
police "realized he had been doing his job as a correspondent."

On March 25, two journalists with Canal 36 television
station were injured while covering social unrest in Tegucigalpa. Reporter
Richard Cásula was treated at a local hospital after inhaling tear gas, as was
photographer Salvador Sandoval, who sustained injuries to his face after being
struck by a tear gas canister, C-Libre reported.

On March 21, Globo TV camera operator Uriel Rodríguez was
injured by rubber bullets in both his legsby police attempting to disperse the teacher's protest, C-Libre said.